SM RUSeizon Senryaku: The Evolution of RU Stall

Lonely Feather

Anyone who knows me knows that I love using bulky teams whenever possible. With the sad departure of Alomomola from my great tier due to the tyrannical demons known as the UU playerbase, I had no choice but to stop terrorizing my opponents with the vaunted RegiMola core. I always knew I wanted to create a stall team for the metagame; the early stages had too much offensive pressure to create on effectively. However, stall soon began to rise from the ashes, with individuals such as despize creating solid stall teams. We even created the legendary Z-Dazzling Gleam + Imprison Sableye, the ultimate Heracross and Pangoro counter, to elevate stall to a higher status. However, I still felt that I could make stall better, and that was when a particular set began getting popular: SubRoost Defensive Moltres.

It was at this point that I realized how good Moltres would be for stall. It could act as a secondary Defogger, alleviating the pressure brought on stall by Pokemon such as Spikes Chesnaught. With its great speed, it could act as a solid revenge killer to many threats in the metagame, while also providing some offensive pressure with STAB Flamethrower; its access to Toxic made it even harder to switch into. With this, I began creating my own stall team.

Registeel + Umbreon + Gligar + Quagsire is a core I believe is necessary for any functioning stall team; they all perform specific functions that allow the team to function perfectly. Registeel performs a myriad of functions, from walling a majority of attackers to setting up Stealth Rock to apply pressure to the opposition through a combination of Toxic + Seismic Toss + Protect. Its immunity to Toxic also makes the team harder to take down in general. Umbreon counters most of the special attackers that defeat Registeel, while also providing a Dark resistance and Heal Bell support. Gligar provides Defog support while handling the physical side of things; Acrobatics Gligar was also the premier Heracross answer in the tier. Lastly, Curse Quagsire handles set-up sweepers that would otherwise be a nightmare to stall, such as DD Flygon, Curse Snorlax, CM Reuniclus, and NP Salazzle.

Adding Defog Moltres into this mix made the team even more difficult to stop. With its Speed, it could check a myriad of threats, while also providing another Fighting resist as well as more offensive pressure. It also made Pokemon such as Chesnaught and Spikes Roserade far less threatening for the team.

For the final slot, I decided to add a CM Comfey, as it acted as a sort of win-condition while allowing me to check annoying Pokemon such as Pangoro, Kommo-O, and the rampant Flame Orb + Guts Heracross.

It was at this point that Heracross was banned from the tier. With this, I realized that running a physically defensive Gligar with Acrobatics was pointless, so I decided to make it specially defensive with Earthquake; this would allow me to have another answer to Salazzle, which had recently begun to run Hidden Power Grass to defeat Quagsire. I also decided that it was best to find a replacement to Comfey, as Pangoro and Bewear were bound to become a great deal more popular with Heracross's departure; Araquanid was also gaining popularity, and I wanted to have an answer to this as well.

While discussing this in the OLT chat, BHARATH_THEBEST suggestion of Toxicroak. I initially thought this was a meme, but then I began discussing the frog's merits in my RUPL team channel. Anti also saw the merits of this Pokemon, and he began creating a set. We knew that the Toxicroak should hold a Z-item, as it would weaken Knock Off from Pangoro and the like. After looking through Z-moves, we found out that Toxicroak had access to Spite; Z-Spite restores the user's HP to full. For the other moves, Anti decided on Knock Off, Drain Punch and one of either Poison Jab or Gunk Shot. After testing on the ladder, he told me that he barely even utilized the Poison-STAB move in his games; because of this, we felt that accuracy should not be that big of a factor. Because of this, we opted to go for Gunk Shot in order to guarantee the OHKO on Virizion. With this, the perfect Toxicroak set was created; it was a stone-cold answer to the Panda, the Spider, and the Deer. The team still seemed weak to Bewear, however, so Anti suggested running some more Speed on both Gligar and Toxicroak; that way, we could Knock Off the Choice Band if need be, leaving the fluffy monster helpless against Quagsire.

Registeel is by far the best stall Pokemon in RU. After spamming this Pokemon for two generations straight in almost all of teams, I've learned firsthand just how unstoppable it really is. Registeel is able to reliably handle a great deal of attackers in the tier, and also pressure many builds through the combination of Seismic Toss, Toxic, and Protect. Just the simple threat of Protect is enough to give the Registeel user a solid advantage, as one can take advantage of the opponent's predictable plays and gain a stronger position in the match. As long as you do not let it get Knocked Off, this iron giant can easily stay healthy for the majority of battles; its longevity is increased even more by Umbreon's access to Wish and Heal Bell. It can reliably set up Stealth Rock in essentially every battle, and its immunity to Toxic is key in making sure the team doesn't have to be overly reliant on Heal Bell. Registeel is arguably the most key member of this stall team, and is pivotal to the build's success in the tier.

If there was any Pokemon that could hope to match Registeel's utility to defensive teams, it's Umbreon. Umbreon is another staple to basically every stall build, and is present on a great deal of balance teams as well. It can perform a myriad of functions, including healing its teammates with Wish and curing their status ailments. Umbreon's bulk also lets it sponge a great deal of attacks, both special and physical. Having Umbreon and Registeel on the same team essentially neutralizes most special attackers, as only ridiculously strong threats such as Salazzle or Pokemon with Focus Blast can hope to break through this unparalleled core. Umbreon's bulk is also useful for stopping physical attackers such as Rhyperior and Sharpedo, who cannot reliably break through this beast without some luck. Umbreon's access to Protect only serves to make this team even more difficult to beat, as it can scout the attacks of Choiced attackers and whittle them down once they have been poisoned by either Registeel or Moltres.

Gligar @

Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
-

Defog
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Knock Off
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Earthquake
-

Roost

Last generation, we were forced to use Defog Flygon on essentially every balance team after Gligar rose to UU (except for the idiots who insisted on using Defog Golbat lol). In SM, however, everyone's favorite bat returned, and reclaimed it's place as the best Defogger in the tier. Gligar can Defog on a great deal of Pokemon in the tier, meaning that it will be very difficult for the opposition to pressure the team with entry hazards. With Heracross's banning, Gligar no longer needs to run a physically defensive EV spread; specially defensive Gligar is very useful for handling some of the special attackers that Umbreon and Registeel cannot, such as Salazzle. Speaking of Salazzle, one can choose to drop the Speed EVs to 0 if they so please and maximize Special Defense, allowing Umbreon to take even less from a boosted Fire Blast. The current Speed EVs allow Gligar to outrun Max Speed Adamant Bewear and, by extension, Max Speed Adamant Pangoro; this can be useful since it can let Gligar remove Bewear's Choice Band, rendering it completely unable to break through this team. Knock Off is a useful asset for any stall team, as it can remove potentially annoying items such as Leftovers, Choice Band, and Choice Specs.

Quagsire is another integral component of stall teams. Unaware renders set-up attackers useless, as only those that carry moves such as HP Grass can hope to break through Quagsire. Curse allows Quagsire to set up alongside Pokemon such as Curse Snorlax, and occasionally pose a threat to weakened teams. Scald is useful for spreading status and neutering physical attackers such as Flygon. It is important to note that, with 252 HP and 4 Special Defense EVs, Quagsire will always live an HP Grass from Salazzle at 100%; because of this, it is important to make sure entry hazards stay off the field at all times. Quagsire also acts as the team's primary switch in to many physical attackers, including Sharpedo, Feraligatr, Bewear, and the aforementioned Flygon; Toxicroak's presence on the team means that the former two Pokemon be less likely to use their Water-type STAB moves, allowing Quagsire to switch in even more safely.

Toxicroak @

Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
-

Drain Punch
-

Spite
-

Knock Off
-

Gunk Shot

Anti's Toxicroak set is an amazing addition for this stall team, allowing it to effortlessly handle the likes of Pangoro, Araquanid, and Virizion. Z-Spite works as a one-time healing option that can restore Toxicroak's HP to full in a pinch; Umbreon's ability to Wish Pass to it in addition to Toxicroak's access to Dry Skin also aids its longevity. Spite in general can be useful at times for wasting PP, specifically those of healing moves such as Roost, Rest, and Wish. The aforementioned Dry Skin is a phenomenal ability in general, making the opposition wary of using Water-type attacks. It also allows the frog to wall almost all variants of Mantine, Araquanid, and Milotic, which can give its user many advantages. Knock Off can cripple the opposition, working with Gligar in order to rid the enemy of their precious items. Gunk Shot was chosen over Poison Jab due to its ability to OHKO Virizion; the extra power is also nice for Pokemon such as Bewear. The EVs, like Gligar's, outrun Max Speed Adamant Bewear, and by extension, Max Speed Adamant Pangoro. Despite being a defensively-oriented set, Toxicroak's solid coverage makes it threatening for a variety of builds, many of which lack a solid switch-in for its combination of attacks.

Stall teams need multiple ways to clear entry hazards to be successful, as otherwise good players can easily pressure one's build with double switches and the like. Moltres is an amazing option as a secondary Defogger, as it can switch into Pokemon that Gligar cannot handle reliably, such as Chesnaught, and ensure the field is free of hazards. The Speed EVs ensure Moltres outruns Max Speed Timid Kommo-O, allowing it to cripple it with a Toxic; the Speed can also be useful for outrunning Pokemon such as Gardevoir. Moltres is another threatening Pokemon for many builds to switch into, as many do not have a solid answer for the combination of Flamethrower + Toxic. It is a great glue Pokemon that can provide offensive pressure alongside Toxicroak, a rare trait for a stall team to possess. Its typing also allows it to be a secondary answer to Pokemon such as Shaymin and Comfey, which cannot hope to break the phoenix. Pressure also works wonderfully on stall, further hindering the opposition's ability to break the team.

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This team has proven to be very consistent, amassing a great deal of wins in both RUPL and the RU Open. If played correctly, it can easily defeat the majority of the teams running rampant in the tier; most teams lack a reliable stall answer outside of Pangoro, which accomplishes nothing against this build due to Anti's Toxicroak set (shoutouts once again to him for helping create this masterpiece, peaking #1 on the ladder with it, and for making this amazing format that I pillaged as I do with everything else). Of course, however, this team isn't unbeatable. Salazzle is still a threat if the opposition manages to weaken Gligar below 75%, or 70% if one chooses to use Max Special Defense Gligar. Taunt + Toxic Immunity Gligar is also a massive threat for this team, as it can basically defeat the majority of the build; Hoopa can also destroy this team. CM Meloetta with Fightium Z is also a threat that must be played around carefully, as is CM Gardevoir. Pokemon with Trick such as the aforementioned Gardevoir and Zoroark also must be dealt with carefully, although the team's utilization of two Protect Pokemon and a Z-move user makes this less of an issue than it would be otherwise. SR Rhyperior can also be a nuisance when used on the right build, as it can defeat both Defoggers if it carries Ice Punch. Mega Glalie can also pressure the team with Spikes and deal damage with its great power. Despite these flaws, however, the team is still incredibly solid, and can defeat most of the teams in the metagame with proper playing. Seizon Senryaku translates to 'Survival Strategy', which is exactly what this build managed to do, adapting itself to the metagame to become more unbreakable than ever.